Texas’ streak comes to an end against Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State receiver Tylan Wallace, right, pulls away from Texas defensive back Kobe Boyce to score the game’s first TD.

Photo: Brian Bahr /Getty Images

STILLWATER, Okla. — Texas was not going to approach Oklahoma State like some defenseless animal, of that senior defensive end Charles Omenihu seemed certain.

“Trap game” wasn’t even part of the team’s lexicon, he explained, because the Big 12 was too top-to-bottom talented, too cannibalistic for any program, even a top-10 program, to schedule a win before the game had been played.

Starting cornerbacks Kris Boyd and Davante Davis watched the first quarter from the sideline, punishment for arriving late to a team function. What they witnessed must have turned them queasy.

Oklahoma State scored on each of its first three drives. The Cowboys gashed the Texas defense, kept attacking placeholder corners Kobe Boyce and Anthony Cook and opened gaping holes in the line for running backs Justice Hill and Chuba Hubbard to maneuver through.

On the fourth play of the game, wide receiver Tylan Wallace ran into a dead zone in the coverage, leapt to snatch a sailing pass from quarterback Tyler Cornelius, and evaded a slew of defenders for a 40-yard touchdown.

Ten of the Cowboys’ 27 first-quarter plays went for at least 10 yards. Part of that big-play success was because of coach Mike Gundy’s aggressive play-calling, but an inept and often confused Texas defense kept taking the bait, so Oklahoma State kept baiting.

On fourth-and-1 from the Texas 16-yard line, Gundy kept the ball in his quarterback’s hands. Texas bit on the play-action fake, Cornelius backpedaled away from defensive lineman Ta’Quon Graham and lofted a 16-yard touchdown pass to uncovered receiver Jelani Woods for Oklahoma State’s second touchdown in as many drives.

Texas initially looked ready to engage in a Stillwater shootout.

Sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger looked unbothered by his sprained throwing shoulder. He rushed into the teeth of the defense early and bounced back up.

Junior receiver Collin Johnson drew a pass interference penalty and picked up 14 yards on third-and-9 from just outside the red zone. From 5 yards out, Ehlinger faked a handoff, tucked the ball, shimmied past a defender who dove into nothing but air and finished UT’s opening drive with his seventh touchdown run of the season.

It stood to reason the offense would keep rolling when wideout Lil’Jordan Humphrey returned from his opening-drive benching. Didn’t happen, not right away.

Texas went three-and-out on two of its next three drives. It never held the ball for more than 1 minute, 20 seconds, forcing a worn-down defense back out on the field with nary a breather.

After Cornelius’ 1-yard touchdown run put Oklahoma State up 24-7, Texas dug in and mustered a response.

Tight end Andrew Beck channeled Willie Mays with an over-the-shoulder 37-yard catch on a floater from Ehlinger, who on the ensuing play ran in touchdown number two from 2 yards out.

Still, the picture at halftime was bleak, the numbers ugly.

Oklahoma State had gained 378 yards and picked up 19 first downs. It had held the ball for almost 20 minutes, siphoning energy away from a defense that struggled even during the game’s onset.

Most embarrassing of all was what happened on OSU’s final first-half drive.

On 4th-and-1, 36 yards away from the end zone, Gundy demanded a deep shot, a jump ball to Wallace. Boyd mistimed his leap, safety Brandon Jones misread the play, and Wallace side-stepped into the end zone to extend the lead to 31-14.

Oklahoma State might have ended this game earlier had it not missed a pair of field goals, both from within 41 yards. Texas seized on that bit of hope in the second half.

Late in the third quarter, freshman running back Keaontay Ingram beat OSU linebacker Justin Phillips on a wheel route and caught up to Ehlinger’s end-zone pass just in time. The 22-yard touchdown reception cut UT’s deficit to 10.

Texas kept coming, its defense finally making stops and its offense putting together sustained drives.

Early in the fourth quarter, Texas had driven deep into Oklahoma State territory. On second-and-goal, Ehlinger started rolling right, keeping pace with a moving wall of offensive linemen, before hopping up and throwing a 10-yard touchdown strike to Beck and cutting the Cowboys’ lead to 31-28.

Both teams had one more score left in them. Unfortunately for Texas, it needed two.

A fake handoff threw Texas’ defense off, and Cornelius took off right, shook over safety B.J. Foster, and dove into the end zone. The 10-yard touchdown run made it a 10-point game with 5 minutes, 44 seconds left.